Embers
by xdeathbyheadphonesx
Summary: Almost all of his long-term memory had faded, and the world had come to know him by the name of a dead man.  Little bits of 'memories' came back in blackouts, but all from someone else's perspective.  Where was he, anymore?
1. Chapter 1

_I'm not quite myself these days. Guess we all come undone time to time in different ways, well. I have myself to blame. Guess I don't understand I need help in many ways._

**- Screaming Bloody Murder, Sum 41**

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><p><strong>:: Prologue ::<strong>

The rain showered down from the bleak sky, drowning him in wet kisses. Breath coming out in a damp pant, he trudged through the thick mud with slight difficulty.

A sharp pain drilled his side, his skin marred by gashes and semi-dried blood.

The sight of him was grotesque. The few travelers he'd passed on his way gawked and cringed; some retaliated in fear.

Who could blame them? He was a broken shell of a man with crimson blood pooling in and seeping out of his devil eyes.

They spoke volumes; the scars he shamelessly bore.

His image was symbolic of the man he had been as well as the demon he had become. A tortured soul basking in self-inflicted grief and loneliness.

The devil might have praised him were he not such a pathetic sight.

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

_I could be mean, I could be angry, you know I could be just like you._

**- Just Like You, Three Days Grace**

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><p>:: Chapter One ::<p>

The candlelight danced off the walls of his room as he sat in silence, breathing the damp air. His eyes ached, lined with crusty dried blood and other fluids.

This was not the way he had envisioned himself. _This _was a pathetic piece of shit claiming to be a strong, almost inhuman, being.

He raised himself up from the bed, feeling the strain of his muscles as he did so. His body was falling apart; this was not who he had once been.

Once, he had been praised for being so strong. He had been a highly regarded male in their village, until he gave it all up for inconceivable power.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor, threatening to intrude into his sanctuary. He surveyed the door, his eyes piercing the dark, waiting.

The door creaked open. Subconsciously, he still expected a pale, feminine man to enter, if only to pursue him for the power he harnessed. Instead, a man with long black hair entered, his eyes masked from the lack of light.

"Sasuke."

The boy raised his head and angrily glanced over the man before him. Madara was on a power streak of his own, daring to challenge the that of any other.

"You must be mistaken," he chided. "I am not Uchiha Sasuke."

Madara narrowed his eyes at the male before him, watching as he licked his fingers and wiped at the discharge in the crevices of his eyes.

"Then who are you?"

The boy lifted his head, nose wrinkling in distaste at Madara's insolence.

"You question me?"

Madara laughed, something vile and throaty. "Who do you think you are, Sasuke?"

"I have told you, that's not who I am," he retorted, short in temper. "If you are to address me, do so properly."

Obsidian eyes analyzed the man before him - no, the _boy_. Sasuke was still all but eighteen.

"What am I to address you by? Better yet, who are _you _to tell _me_ how I am to address a person?"

Sasuke turned on him, eyes spinning rapidly, threatening to intrude the mind of his elder and only blood relation.

"I am to tell you how to address me, seeing as my power is far superior to yours. It has always been superior," Sasuke boasted, staring at what was visible of his reflection in the dimly lit mirror. "Do not insult me, let alone challenge me."

Madara was taken aback by the boy's attitude. Since he had disbanded from Konohagakure, something was awry in the young man's mind, but it was almost as if he were mentally ill. The boy showed symptoms of a personality disorder.

"Who are you, then?" Madara inquired, challenging Sasuke despite his warning. "I see no reason to fear you. You invoke no such thing in me."

"Hold your tongue," Sasuke demanded, facing the older man now. He bore almost no expression, aside from the slight slit in his eyes.

"Who do you think you are?" Madara pressed, stepping to the young man, eyes ablaze as well.

Sasuke ignored his interrogation and pushed past him entirely, heading out the doorway. Madara's eyes followed him; Sasuke was no stronger than he was. That fool was too out of his head to see that.

- x - x - x -

The lights below danced as some went out with the impending night. From above, he watched what he once considered his home, remembering all he had left behind.

The wreckage, the bodies, his title...

All of it, he had given up for this. It was worth it all.

He would be the one to capture the nine-tailed fox, even if majority of the organization was dead and gone. He still lived, and he had the ability to carry out their plan; he had the ability to obtain the utmost power.

It all laid before him. Down there, in that city, was the boy who harnessed that demon. Soon, he would extract it from his body, leaving him lifeless just like all the others.

Someday, he would triumph, with the jinchuriki's empty shell cast at his feet. When that day came, the country and beyond would understand his godliness.

Soon, that day would come.

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><p><strong>Short chapter, next one should be longer. Reviews are appreciated.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

_I've got five fingers on each hand for every mistake that I've made._

**- Colorado Sunrise, 3oh!3**

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><p>:: Chapter Two ::<p>

The sun came in through the window in streaks, peeking through the blinds. Grunting, he turned over onto his side and rubbed his eyes, causing an agonizing pain to shoot through them.

Why, all of a sudden, he was exposed to this godawful searing was something he could not draw a conclusion for. It had been approximately a decade that he had held this power, and only now were his eyes wearing because of it.

He covered his eyes with his forearm, blocking the light to attempt to ease the prominent stinging. He exhaled to alleviate some of the pent-up anger the pain was causing him.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he felt warm liquid slide out of the corner of his left, trailing down his cheek a bit. With his free arm, he reached up and wiped it, moving his arm away from his eyes long enough to examine it.

Red. Bright red.

He placed his arm back over his eyes and screwed them shut. Fuck the singeing feeling; he had experienced worse.

A wave of dizziness caught him off guard as he attempted to stand, causing him to stagger and fall to his knees. Blackness impended, and he was drawn elsewhere.

_Screams. There were so many screams from all directions._

_The sky was blood red, a silhouette perched high, peering down._

_His cheeks were wet and his breath ragged, chest heaving...from..._

_Running. He was still running, attempting to break free of the nightmarish land he was captive in._

_"Run," a voice called after him. It was haunting, familiar, but one he was unable to recall..._

_"Run."_

Light came flooding back to him, and he had to struggle to catch his breath. It felt as if he had been running.

What the hell was that...? It was just like that day, and although he was unable to recall most of it, he was quite sure he hadn't been the one running.

Who was that voice? Even conscious, he recognized it from somewhere.

He pressed his fingers to his temples, trying to ease the throbbing. A ferocious headache had suddenly overcome him, tempting him to go lie back down.

The fleeting thought was interrupted by a soft rapping at the door. When he failed to answer, a female voice called out.

"Sasuke? Sasuke-kun?"

Who the hell were they calling _Sasuke_?

"Sasuke..."

He stood up shakily, holding on to his dresser for support. Stumbling over to the door, he pulled it open a crack to give a reply.

"There is no one by that name here."

Through the small opening, he could see the girl on the other side giving him a puzzled look.

"What are you talking about, Sasuke-kun?"

"That is not who I am. You're looking in the wrong place." With that, he abruptly closed the door in her face. Before he could push it all the way shut, she shoved her hand against it with as much force as she could muster.

"Sasuke," she chided, dropping the honorifics she'd tacked onto his name, "what are you talking about, _'That's not who I am'_?"

"It isn't," he corrected, fiercely glaring at the young woman. "Now if you'd please do me the favor of leaving."

He didn't miss the confused look before he successfully pushed the door closed on her. Ignoring her stammering, he headed over to the window and fell against it, letting his head rest against the somewhat cool glass.

What the hell was that? Sasuke...everyone was a fool, or so it would seem.

Of course he _knew _Sasuke, but that boy was in no way who _he _was. It was hard to deny recognition of his own flesh and blood.

Unfortunately, that flesh and blood had died not too long ago in their fight. He recalled lying in the rain, letting the sky wash the blood off his face as his deceased family lie next to him.

Pity.

Staring out into the light caused his eyes to burn, so he turned away and headed back to lean on his dresser, attempting to ease the pain.

When had it started, and when would it stop?

There was no certain answer, seeing as he'd been fighting the pain for quite some time, but he would try all he could to keep it at bay or rid himself of it completely.

Hopefully good would come of this sooner rather than later.

He could hear voices in the hall; one was male, the other female. The same female that had been at his door, questioning him.

_"Sasuke-kun?"_

How mistaken she had been.

He strained to make out the words they were saying. Closing his eyes and cutting off his sight, he honed in on his hearing.

"It was so strange...he said, _'That's not who I am'_ as if he were trying to deceive me."

"Maybe he was sleepwalking," the boy suggested.

"Baka, that is a stupid suggestion. He was fully awake, and he isn't one to play games. I just don't get it..."

The footsteps stopped outside his room, listening for any noise on his side of the door. When they got no satisfactory indication of his presence, they continued on.

"If he _isn't _Uchiha Sasuke, then who is he?"

Idiots. The two of them bore resemblance, but there was quite a distinct difference between the two of them. How could they possibly be mistaking him for Sasuke?

He gazed at his reflection in the dusty mirror, searching his own eyes for some indication of where their strange ideas were coming from. While he was straining to see what they did, his head spun again and he crashed onto the dresser.

_"Foolish little brother..."_

_The rain spattered the ground around him, thunder erupting overhead. Panting, he felt his struggle of breath. Beside him, a lifeless man lay, face to the sky._

_He turned to look at him..._

Gasping for breath, he jolted back to reality and found himself once again looking at his own reflection. His head pounded now, a combination of the pain from his eyes and the impending headache these blips of what seemed to be memories were giving him.

That voice...those words...

It wasn't something he could recall saying, but then again, he had forgotten a lot recently. Memories were a strain, but if these were, they made no sense.

These fleeting _flashbacks_, per se, felt like they were being carried out from the eyes of someone else. The supernatural was possible, but that was a bit beyond his grasp.

Shakily, he headed over to his bead and sat down on it, cradling his head in his hands.

What the hell was happening to him? What the hell was happening around him?

It was all so strange...the 'flashbacks', the eye pain, how everyone had forgotten his identity all of a sudden and was mistaking it for another. How could this all be...?

There was no logical explanation he could conjure. With the agitation he was suffering, it was too much a hassle to attempt to figure it out.

He allowed himself to lie down, staring at the ceiling for a moment before shutting his eyes.

Perhaps it was all a dream, or perhaps he was stuck in someone else's alternative world.

That idea was not beyond him. It seemed somewhat plausible.

The only difference would be that this one had no strange coloring; black moons in red skies...

The thought drew him in once again to a 'memory', failing to fight it as he lost control of his consciousness.

_"I am..."_

_"I will avenge them."_

_"That man..."_

_The voice changed to a deeper one._

_"Hate me."_

When he came to, sweat dripped from his hairline and he was once again out of breath. His face was hot, although the room was rather cold.

That voice...it was there again. Whose was it?

His hands shook as he raised them to his face, covering it completely. What was happening to him?

He wanted - no, _needed _- an answer, but there was no place to begin looking.

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><p><strong>The idea, hopefully, is becoming a bit more clear. Reviews are greatly appreciated.<strong>_  
><em>


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